Wonju DB is one of the prestigious schools representing KBL. Starting with Narae, who broke the expectation that he was a candidate for the 2nd place in the first year of the pro, and took second place as a surprise, the team power has been steadily growing. Until the 2002-03 season, DB did not occupy more than a dark horse in the league.
In the background of the surprise runner-up in the first year, there was a well-selected foreign duo, Jason Williford and Kallei Harris, but there were no competitive native players other than Jeong In-gyo, so it was difficult beyond that. Afterwards, the luck of bringing Shin Ki-seong, who was one of the best point guards in the university, to the Chung-Ang University family, centered on Heo Jae, Yang Kyung-min, and Kim Seung-gi, in an unexpectedly low order, attempts a second leap.
However, Heo Jae, who was the ace of the team at the time, was past his prime. Nevertheless, he showed great prowess as one of the best technicians in the league, but if he did well in one game, his performance in the next game dropped drastically, repeating his ups and downs. Physical fitness problems got in the way. Because of this, DB did well at the time, but stayed in the 6th to 4th rounds, which were difficult to win. In fact, the grades came out that way too.
It was only when one outstanding franchise star joined that DB became a team that could aim for the championship in earnest. When it comes to DB, the first thing that comes to mind is Kim Joo-seong (43‧205cm), the best legend in team history. Heo Jae is a person with very high standards when it comes to basketball. He is in a position where he is regarded as the best player of all time, so he does not stand out when he is very good.
When Heo Jae got the first overall pick in the rookie draft, he and coach Jeon Chang-jin raised both hands and shouted cheers. This is because we have been able to select the best big man, Kim Joo-seong, who dominated the college stage. In fact, Kim Joo-seong led the ‘Glorious Era’ by playing as a one-club man for 16 seasons, including giving the team its first championship victory in his first year as a rookie.
The aforementioned 3 championship championships and 5 regular season championships were all made while Kim Joo-sung was active, and he won the regular season and championship MVP twice each. He is the only player to have achieved both 10,000 points and 1,000 blocks, and as a national team member, he won two gold medals at the 2002 Busan and 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
Each KBL team has a color that represents their basketball by era. As many basketball fans know, there is only one thing that comes to mind when you think of DB. It is ‘Wonju Fortress’. It is a double post system created by adding a foreign big man to Kim Joo-seong, who boasts foreign player-level defense based on fast speed and high elasticity.
Even though Kim Joo-seong had the nation’s top offense, he was a style that took care of defense and dirty work first due to his altruistic tendency. It was because he thought of team victory before individual records, and because of that, he got along well with any type of foreign big man. Concerned about his slender body (?), the team assigned Derek Johnson (51‧205.4cm), who is tall and strong in the first season, as a partner.
Afterwards, Johnson suffered an injury and teamed up with Leon Derricks (48‧204cm), who was brought in in a hurry, to win the championship, and the team only then realized that he was a player that could be combined well with any type of player. In particular, the synergistic effect was very high with a foreign big man who has both mobility and height and a well-equipped defensive mindset like himself.
Representative examples include Jamil Watkins (45‧208cm), Reggie Okosa (42‧208cm), and Rod Benson (38‧206.7cm), who continued the fame of Wonju Mountain and shared the glory. In addition, foreign forwards or outstanding juniors such as Yun Ho-young (38‧195.6cm) were added to this, and the triple post was activated. In any case, partners often changed, but Kim Joo-seong was always at the center of Wonju’s fortress, and such high-level basketball was not enough to boost the pride of Wonju fans.
Kim Joo-seong, as a leader this time, sets out to rebuild the missing Wonju Fortress. Recently, the DB club appointed acting coach Kim Joo-seong as the new head coach. His contract is for 3 years. Coach Kim, who has been coaching since 2019, has been leading the team since the match against Hyundai Mobis on January 7th when former coach Lee Sang-beom voluntarily resigned in December of last year for reasons such as poor performance and health.
In the first game as an agent, against Hyundai Mobis, he won the game after an extended game, and the fans were enthusiastic with a good flow in the beginning. However, the atmosphere quickly deteriorated due to the disappointment of recruiting foreign players and the continued problem of injuries, and ended the season with a record of 11 wins and 14 losses in 25 games he was in charge of. The final result was 7th in the regular season.
In fact, regarding the appointment of Kim Joo-sung as the manager, there was a fierce debate even among DB fans. Because he is the same as the symbol of the team, we agreed on the idea of ’a person who will surely rise to the command tower someday’, but we had different opinions on the timing issue. There were not a few star leaders who took on the role of director relatively early and ruined not only poor grades but also the existing good image, so there was a lot of concern about that part.
Although he went through the acting manager,스포츠토토 there were many fans who wanted to gain more experience as a coach and rise to the command tower when he was fully prepared. This is because Kim Joo-sung’s managerial failure is a part that can shock not only the individual, but also the entire Wonju team. Anyway, the die is cast. DB took out the Kim Joo-sung card, which was cherished as a card that could restore the pride of the crumpled family.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a win-win because it has a different meaning in many ways from the general appointment of other directors. Can Kim Joo-seong, who led the era of glory as a player, continue his pride as his leader? The switch to move the final round weapon was pressed.